08/31/22 08/31/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the city of jackson, even when we are not under a boil water notice, even when we are not dealing with low pressure at the moment, we are in a constant state of emergency. amy: in the majority-black city of jackson, mississippi, more than 180,000 residents are now on their third day without

running water. officials say the crisis could last indefinitely. we'll get an update from mayor chokwe antar lumumba and longtime activist kali akuno, co-founder of cooperation jackson. then to erect were dozens were killed in fighting monday after powerful iraqi cleric muqtada al sadr is resigning. >> it is important to spread the blood but it does not mean the end of the political crisis that has been persisting in the country for months. amy: we'll go to bagdad to speak with yanar mohammed, president of the organization of women's freedom in iraq. then on the last day of black august, as president biden hits the campaign trail and calls for an assault weapons ban and more funding for police, we will speak to ucla professor robin d.g. kelley about the 20th

anniversary edition of his book "freedom dreams: the black radical imagination." >> i tried to turn to history to imagine the future. 20 years later, [indiscernible] turning it from a noun to verb. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the white house has approved a federal emergency declaration for mississippi over the water crisis in the state capital of jackson, where the city's largely black population is without running water for a third day. torrential rains caused the pearl river to overtop its

banks, flooding a water treatment plant and cutting off water supplies indefinitely to 180,000 area residents. on tuesday, mississippi activated its national guard to distribute water to tens of thousands of jackson residents who have been dealing with water issues for years due in part to underfunding from the state government. we will speak with chokwe antar lumumba, the mayor of jackson , mississippi, after headlines. a new filing by the justice department shows federal prosecutors believe former president donald trump may have hidden and moved classified papers at his mar-a-lago estate in an effort to mislead investigators seeking to recover the documents. in a new 36-page filing, justice department counterintelligence chief jay bratt writes -- "the government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the storage room and that efforts were likely

taken to obstruct the government's investigation." in the new filing, the justice department included a photo showing a number of documents marked "top secret" spread out on a carpet. the new filing also calls into question earlier efforts by trump's legal team to luntarilreturn t classied documts. as part the filg, the stice darent urgeagainst the appotment of special st to revi the duments the documents saying "is unnecessary and would significantly harm important governmental interests, including national security inrests." in news from ukraine, a team of nuclear inspectors with the international atomic energy agency have left kyiv and are headed for the russian-occupied zaporizhzhia power plant, europe's largest nuclear power station. in recent weeks, russia and ukraine have accused each of

other attacking the plant, sparking fears of a radiation disaster. iaea director general rafael grossi spoke earlier today in kyiv. >> we are now finally moving. [indiscernible] we have a very important task to perform to assess the real tuation there, to help stabilize the situation. amy: the european union is sending ukrai.5 milli tabletof iodine protect agnst radiion. in more news froukraine, sh carryinukrainian grain has docked in djibouti, africa, for the first time in months. the grain is expected to be taken overland to northern

ethiopia, burenewed fiting in the tigray region may jeopardize the plan. the world food program recently reported 22 million people in somalia,enya, and ethiopia are at risk of srvation ashe region faces its worst drought in 40 years. the world food program's mike dunford said the regiois in desperate need of more grain shipments from ukraine and russia. >> more food flowing, weeed millions of tons under this region. in ethiopia alone, thre quarters oeverythi we used to distribute originated from ukraine and russia. amy: in other news related to the war in ukraine, germany is accusing russia of weaponizing energy supplies after the russian energy giant gazprom announced a three-day shutdown of gas supplies to germany. gazprom said the shutdown was needed to address technical issues with the nord stream 1 pipeline tied to sanctions

imposed by the west. former soviet leader mikhail gorbachev has died in moscow at the age of 91. he led the soviet union from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991. he has been widely credited with bringing down the iron curtain and helping to end the cold war and reducing the risof nuclear war by signing key arms agreements with the u.s., including the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty. in 1990, gorbachev won the nobel peace prize. on december 25, 1991, gorbachev announced his resignation just days before the soviet union dissolved. >> i did to situation, which follows the establishment of the commonwealth of independent states, i hereby cease to act as presidenent of the soviet union. amy: u.n. secretary general antónio guterres said -- "mikhail gorbachev was a

one-of-a kind statesman who changed the course of history. the world has lost a towering global leader, committed multilateralist, and tireless advocate for peace." in moscow, a top kremlin spokesperson described gorbachev as an extraordinary person but said his romanticism about rapprochement with the west was not justified. there are reports in russian media that gorbachev will not receive a state funeral. russian president vladimir putin has called the dissolution of the soviet union ithe 1991 "greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century. u.n. secretary general antonio guterres is warning that he world is sleepwalking toward the destruction of the planet by planet. he made the comment in a plea for nations to help pakistan recover from devastating floods that have left a third of the country under water and have killed over 1100, while displacing 33 million.

>> the government of pakistan has asked for the international communities help post -- help post work together for this crisis. let us all step up in solidarity and support to the people of pakistan in their hour of need. let's stop sleepwalking toward the destruction of our planet by climate change. today it is pakistan. tomorrow, it could be your country. amy: pakistani officials estimate the flooding has damaged or destroyed 1 million homes and washed away over 2000 miles of roads. in addition, authorities say about 1 million animals have died. 6 million people in afghanistan are at risk of famine. that's according to the united nations, which is trying to raise $770 million to help afghans before winter comes. this comes as calls grow for the biden administration to unfreeze

$7 billion of afghan money held in the united states. u.n. aid chief martin griffiths addressed the u.n. general assembly on tuesday. >> 19 million people are facing acute levels of food insecurity, including six among people at risk of famine. more than half of the population, some 24 million people, need humanitarian assistance and an estimated three my children are acutely malnourished. they include over one million children estimated to be suffering from the most severe life-threatening form of moment nutrition -- malnutrition. without specialized treatment, these children could die. amy: in south carolina, lawmakers and republican-led house have approved a near total ban on abortion except in the cases of pregnancies caused by rape or incest.

meanwhile, in indiana, abortion clinics have sued to block indiana's near total abortion ban which is set to go into effect on september 15. the clinics say the law "will infringe on hoosiers' right to privacy and violate indiana's guarantee of equal privileges." life expectancy in the united states has plummeted for a second year in a row due in part to the coronavirus pandemic. is the arpest two-year op in nearla centur accoing tohe natnal cent for health statistics, the life expectancy of the average american is now 76 years. down from 79 before the pandemic. life expectancy for indigenous people have fallen to just 65 years old. that's a six-and-a-half year decrease since the start of the pandemic. police in columbus, ohio, have

shot dead an unarmed 20-year-old black man named donovan lewis as he lay on a bed. the shooting occurred inside an apartment just before 2:30 a.m. on tuesday as police were attempting to serve a warrant. body cam footage shows an officer shot lewis just one second after opening a door to the bedroom. officers then handcuffed lewis who died less than an hour later at a hospital. it was the third police shooting in columbus, ohio, over the past eight days. and in tech news, an employee at google says she was forced out of the company for speaking out against a secretive google project to provide artificial intelligence tools to the israeli government and military. in her resignation letter, ariel koren wrote -- "google systematically silences palestinian, jewish, arab, and muslim voices concerned about google's complicity in violations of palestinian human rights -- to the point of formally retaliating against workers and creating an environment of fear." and those are some of the headlines.

this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now! co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we begin today's show in jackson, mississippi. an overwhelmingly black city of more than 180,000 residents is now on its third day without running water. officials say the crisis could last indefinitely. on tuesday, people waited in long lines for bottled drinking water and to fill-up at tanker trucks full for water to flush toilets and more. >> when you don't have no water. you've got a newborn baby. we are seeing the intentional divestment in communities --

this has been an issue for me since i came down here in 1991. i was always told not to drink the water. when i can do jackson, it was smelling like chlorine. amy: on tuesday night, resident biden -- president biden authorized the federal emergency management agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts "to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in hinds county." this came after mississippi's governor declared a state of emergency for jackson and the neighboring areas. for the past month, jackson residents already had a boil-water advisory due to problems with the city's main water treatment plant. when recent torrential rains caused the pearl river to overtop its banks, the plant flooded and shut down, cutting off water supplies. schools have shifted to online classes and many businesses are closed amid the ongoing water crisis. for more, we go to jackson to speak with the mayor, mayor

chokwe antar lumumba. welcome back to democracy now! you're are in the midst of a massive crisis. climate crisis causing the flooding that has shut down the sewage treatment plant, but the issue of water in jackson has been going on for a long time. you have been warning about it. can you talk about what is happening on the ground right now and what you think is the real long time because of this? >> thank you for having me again. happy to be able to lift up the circumstance on your show. this has been something we have been trying out for more than two years, saying it is not a matter of if our system will failbut when our system will fail. i have described jackson as the poster child of the infrastructure challenges we see inhis country. this is something that when the state joined me and shared there

would be ringing in resources, bringing in team to support us, we welcomed that with open arms because we have been saying we needed the support. we have been saying we need resources. so this is a matter of human rights. this is a matter of deferred maintenance that is happened over decadesa lack of investment in capital improvement, and quite possibly -- quite honestly probably more than $1 billion worth of challenges that have to go into our water distribution system. and so we were sustaining some level of improvements yesterday. but the system, true to its form and true to what we have seen, had bit of correction last night. so we're struggling to get tanks back up, struggling to restore water function across the city. we believe our residents are worthy of a system which is sustainable, worthy of a system

which is equitable, serving all of the residents and not having a disproportionate effect on the poor communities in south jackson. juan: mayor, i wanted tosk you about the responsibility of the state government in this issue, the state legislature. mississippi has long been the nation's poorest state and also the state with the largest percentage of african-american residents. you talk about how the state has responded in the past to your request and also the issue of the state constitution not allowing municipalities to tax themselves come have independent taxing authority and how that affects your ability to remedy the water infrastructure problems? >> it is clear we are heily reliant on the state for many of these resources.

not only because we don't have the independent ability to tax ourselves, but because even a federal funding that is sent rent universities like jackson, coming through the state of mississippi. consistent in lifting up that all parties that have ability, that have license or authority to help with this problem need to lean in and be a part of the process of this correction. but today, i have to focus on the priority of the coalition that is being built now and have toe optimistic in that coalition. so there is a time to discuss why we haven't seen this coalition formed sooner, to discuss just how far we're going to go, but i will say i am at ast delighted to see there is

discussion about moving together at this point. i don't believe we should have taken this time to get here, but i am going to move forward in spirit of operation unity, focusing more on our common objectives than our differences at this time. juan: what are your hopes for what the federal government might possibly do to assist the residents of jackson in this crisis? >> i hope they bring the full armor of their authority, understanding this is a crisis, this is an emergency, that the events that sparked the pressure being reduced on this occasion were directly associated with the floods we recently experienced. but it is well documented even amongst our federal agencies and leadership all the way up to the white house that th is a rsistent problem.

i had the opportunity to walk with the ministry to reagan jackson looking at the multiple issues we have with respect to our infrastructure. on the occasion of his visit, we have the water pressure challenges in south jackson. we were visiting a school and the children had to relocate. i have been with him in d.c. and heard him give his speech about the direction of the epa. i have hurt him include the city of jackson in that speech. -- heard him include the city of jackson and that speech. we are looking for every available dollar, every available partner, and working with the coalition of the willing in order to restore dignity to our residents. this is part and parcel of the cycle of hubley asian that far too often our community has to suffer from because we are to given the sustainable developer resources for the quality of life that they deserve. juan: i want to ask one other

thing to the mayor, what about president biden's infrastructure legislation that was passed? as any of that many been earmard for jackson and for its infrastructure needs? >> that money has not yet yet landed in jackson. what i can share is my discussion about the czar which landrieu along with administration reagan were both consistent and they have money intended or they had jackson in mind with the allocation they expected to go to our state. so we just have to make certain it goes from its inception point all the way to the final destination, which is right to our water treatment facilities which is towards creating sustainable and equitable system for our residents. amy: mayor, have attributed the

water plant breakdown to the recent flooding of the pearl river. but republican mississippi governor tate reeves has said years of poor maintenance wore down the facility's pumps. this is him on monday. >> the end of last week, i was briefed by the state health department on the discovery that jackson's main water treatment facility has been operating with zero redundancy. the main pumps had recently been damaged severely, about the same time as the prolonged boil water notice began and the facility was now operating on smaller backup pumps. the city government was unable to give them a timeline for when the facility would be back in a operating conditions. amy: that is republican mississippi governor tate reeves. you declared an emergency in jackson on monday. he followed on tuesday. before we let you go to deal

with this catastrophe in the city, what do you see as a long-term plan? >> first and foremost, i just want to be clear that we have been lifting up thesehallenges since about 2018. i came into office in 2017. so we have been going to state leadership to speak to these challenges ever since that time. this has been a combination of accumulated challenges over time , more than three decades worth of cllenges. i liken it to a vehicle. if yo're changing the oil gulay, if yoare rotang the tires, if you're giving it a tuneup, then it is likely to function better. when that has not taken place over the course of such a gnificanperiod of time as at has hapned in jackson you enup witharger, me

substaial teats tyour hicle d te system. so we have been crying out to the state for support. there has been an equity in what we have seen in jackson versus other community's. at this time, wh our focus is is a focus on a coalition that works together, coalition that his arm in arm makg sure w work toward e residents of jackson and making sure we include these challenges. we need anverall orhaul of our water treatmentacility. in a actualitya new fality wod be in orderecausehe ter treatnt facility we have has never functioned optimally and i said challens from t moment it was created. i think is imperate we wor toward itemizing or automating, i'm sorry, the feed systems, whether rising the plant.

not only do we have the challenges stemming from the flood on this event, two februarys ago, freezing temperatures of a storm led to the debilitation of the plant at that time. we have seen this time and time again. we have hodder severson colder winters and more precipitation annually so this is all taking a toll on our infrastructure. in the short-term, we are looking toward the states resources in human capital and physical capital improvements to the plant. and long term, we looking toward the accommodation of the state and federal funds to make overall adjustments in the plan. we have been investing the money we have had. we have invested $8 million toward a larger pipe just to service the south jackson community. we have invested in a structure over our membrane side and the

weatherization to make sure we are not crippled like in february. we have invested in the plant but we can't go it alone. we don't have $1 billion with the resources. fortunately, we have t partnerships and the collaboration of agencies like the u.s. water alliance that are working in conjunction with e city of jackson so we can put forth and prioritize that which has already been outlined with the epa that identifies numerous challenges within our plant. we know what the challenges are, and that outlines it. we did the resources to fix those challenges. amy: chokwe antar lumumba, mayor of jackson, mississippi, thank you for being with us. this is democracy now! as we look at this crisis of climate, class, and race coming together in one of the poorest states in this country, city over 80%

african-american, jackson, mississippi. more than 180,000 residents are on their third day without running water. we are talking about water to drink, water to flush the toilet and bathe. for more, we're joined by kali akuno, co-founder and co-director of cooperation jackson. an organization that works to democratize the economy and empower the black community. welcome back. if you can elaborate on what the mayor has just shared with us, the description of what is happening on the ground and how people are coming together on the ground. you had a resident we just play before we spoke to the mayor saying the state is defunding majority black cities and mayors. >> first come it is a pleasure to be back, amy.

let me describe a little bit of where i am. i am currently in new orleans. the mayor issued for folks to evacuate. we took the situation seriously and started organizing on a regional level. to start being able to deliver water to t the city of jackson. as the mayor noted, we are not new to this situation, unfortunately. so we could anticipate that we were going to need some resources independent of what the state would be able to offer and deliver. in our case, at least in our immediate community, not being reliant on the timeline particularly of the state government to deliver vital resources to our community. too often they have declared

emergencies and not delivered or not delivered in a substantial amount of time jackson helped people on the ground. -- amount of time to be able to help people on the ground. we started mobilizing over the week and start gathering resources to be able to deliver to the people of jackson in their time of need. it is a little bit worse i think that what we anticipated. we have been under boil water notices for months. we have been under many of these on a constant level for years. there's been a level of awareness and preparation that many people in jackson have been attuned to for some time, but now that we have kind of reached this acute phase of system failure, we're going to be a bit overwhelmed. i think the commentator you had talking about the situation being untenable, that is really

what it is like for many in our city for weeks to come. juan: i wanted to ask you, this infrastructure issue and the racial and equities -- inequites across the country. we had a situation and flit, subsequent to that, the crisis in newark's public schools with infrastructure, lead pipes and the water and now we're looking at jackson. all of these cities are majority black cities. if you talk about the situation of the inequities that occur in our system when it comes even to infrastructure? >> number one, it is not by happenstance or coincidence. at we are experiencing now is literally just the crumbling of the entire infrastructure. everyone needs to be clear about that. and this has a long history, as

the mayor and other commentators have noted, if you really want to trace it back, goes back to the 1950's and 1960's with the so-called urban renewals in the suburbs which facilitated white flight out of many major cities, jackson being one of them. it has continued with the chronic problems -- programs in cities that are left with crumbling infrastrture. newark, detroit, we can go on. this developed on a national level right after world war ii, is which brings us to the mention of the crises. we also have to talk about

really linking this to the deeper issue of climate change. just listening to your introduction, we are talng about droughts in east africa, flooding in pakistan, severe drought going on in western europe right now and western portion of the united states. we have to look at all of these dynamics as a whole and jackson is just one of these few areas with a systemic policy around just totally subsidizing the petrochemical industry for decades now -- almost a century, but particularly the united states and 50 years. the other part of what has been driving this crisis, creating all of this systemic change. and if we look at what is being proposed on the broader level,

on the one hand you have the federal government pushing for more drilling, pushing for solutions, as we would say, in the climate justi movement. but have this aggravated infrastructure crisis everywhere , which is not adequately being addressed in part because of the politics and where the republicans are being insistent on denying climate change and being insistent on our privatized solutions. on the other hand, a lot of the democrats and liberals are proposing also are solutions based on market dynamics which really don't work and continue to aggravate the inequalities we are facing in cities like jackson. juan: there have been attempts and the pastor privatize the water supply in jackson. -- in the past to privatize the water supply in jackson.

could you talk about that? >> the mayor talked about the coalition. i also applied that finally the governor has kindly -- finally come to his senses and offered his support but we need to be mindful of what they're offering. i would argue in this effort to kind of pay for half of the cost of one facility in jackson -- there are 2 -- it is just kind of putting a band-aid on the situation. i have a fear, which i think many share, the offer of aid is a prelude to a larger conversation of how to fix the situation? thei offer is either to privatize it or regionalized it,

which is the threat of divesting jackson of its critical resources in an economy that has been on the table for many years. amy: kali akuno, thank you for being with us, cofounder and co-director of cooperation jackson. we will continue to follow this climate, class, and raise catastrophe that has converged in jackson, mississippi, where the population no longer has access to clean drinking water, water to flush the toilet, bathe, to use at all. next up, we go to a wrapper dozens were killed after powerful iraqi cleric iraq announced he is resigning. we will go to baghdad. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "give a man a fish" by arrested development. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn to iraq where dozens

were killed after powerful iraqi cleric muqtada al-sadr have -- a nasty was resigning. "the washington post" reports that -- "for 24 hours, loyalists of powerful cleric muqtada al-sadr transformed the country's government green zone into a front line." at least 30 people were killed and hundreds more injured. on tuesday, al-sadr gave a speech to call for the fighting to stop. meanwhile, iraqi prime minister mustafa al-kadhimi said tuesday he may vacate his post. >> and i one that from now on if they want to continue to stir up chaos, not listen to the voice of reason, i will take my moral and patriotic steps financing the vacancy of the position of prime minister at the appropriate time, according to article 81 of the iraqi.

amy: the formation of a new iraqi government has been paralyzed since parliamentary elections in october, where al-sadr's sadrist movement won the most seats but failed to win an outright majority. al-sadr's supporters had occupied the iraqi parliament since late july in an effort to block lawmakers from choosing a new prime minister. foam over go to baghdad to speak with yanar mohammed, president of the organization of women's freedom in iraq. welcome back to democracy now! the bloodletting in the last day has been horrifying. it looks like it has subsided now. it happened in the green zone where the iraqi parliament, other embassies and government buildings. can you u talk about the significance of what has taken place? who is fighting and what this means for the future? >> the significance of this reminded us the powers that came, the political parties that

came to power are in reality just militias who cannot understand democracy, cannot understand what it means to step down once they do not win. the only way they could resolve this problem was to go down to the street to invade the presidential palace and parliament. and in the last day, they took all of the machine guns and heavy machinery with them and ey held the iraqi people for ransom. all of us lostur well-being and we are scare ran to our homes. people bought as much bread as they could to keept home because it is like a war, like the launching of a vil war. we were reminded those who are in power do not care about the well-being of the people and

that they are using every single wa possible just to gainower. they don't care about people's lives, about our well-being. a piece of information here, it is not only in the green zone, the clash, the clashes we around the city of baghdad and noin the governmental buildings, but the centers of the political parties in other cities also. so for almost 24 hours, we had to live with the situation of war where we were helpless, sitting in the homes and glued to our televisions, just waiting for word to come from the leaders so we could go back to our normal lives. the demonstrations that led to the clashes, the killing, and the bombings around the city,

nobody dares to challenge them or speak any bad words against them. it as if i am living the days all over again where everybody is scared of a single person and nobody dares to say anything. it is a terrible situation. i know in the west, everybody -- it is endless. since the occupation, bush the father and then bush jr. and then now this? we do not deserve to live in this situation. i am sitting at work now and we don't have electricity. we had to bring our own gadgets to make electricity. after 19 years. after occupation, we still don't have electricity. we have to have a well in order to water our gardens.

we are living in poverty. we are barely making ends meet. those who are in power -- and they did not come to power by accident. iraq plan to have a bureaucracy and a power. some of it by the islamic republic of iran and the other is like medieval power. in those two powers have very strong militias that took all their machine guns, their water bombs, and they began to shoot each other. and once some of them shot over the american embassy in the green zone, took the mortars and chucked them back at the city from where the shots came.

so we live one day of total terror. we had flashbacks of what we have been through during the first american occupation, and then the second one, and it seems iraq is meant to be living in these situations for a very long time. juan: yanar mohammed, supposedly, muqtada al-sadr's party won the largest number of seats but has not been for months and months able to form an actual government. could you talk about why there's been so much difficulty through the legislative route trying to form a government that can begin to address some of the needs of the iraqi people? >> the government, the way it was put together in the first place which tracked on and on during the next drought of elections, it was meant to

gather a big majority and order to form the government. and that majority, the number of seats needed to form the government, could not get. at the same time, these two biggest islamist factions has had a history of fighting amongst each other. had they been together,he government in place now and working functional. but because they cannot reach an agreement, en joined his efforts and the kurdish blocs, their party from irbil, their number was not even enough to gather a government. once he couldn't, this man

cannot take no as an answer. once he couldn't put together the government, he ordered -- i say ordered all his party, all his members to withdraw from the government. with no discussion at all. he just told everybody to step out of the government. and once he stepped out of the government and it was time for the other government to be put together, he still did not take no for an answer and he took all his followers into the streets with the demonstration for a whole month. and when it did not bring any results, because the judiciary ruled the governance can still be formed with the others, he started fighting. he says something new every other day and nobody dares to challenge him. it is a terrible situation. amy: and he has quit before and

come back. to be clear, this is fighting between shia militias. we only have a minute and i wanted to ask while a lot of attention is being put on the u.s. -- the first anniversary of the u.s. pulling out of afghanistan, the u.s.'s longest war, the u.s. has thousands of troops in iraq, something like 2500 in this 19th year of the occupation of iraq -- u.s. occupation, what role does the u.s. play in this? that is where we will end. >> they do not play a strong role. there is the general feeling the negotiations between the u.s. i andran is being implemented in the land of iraq because fighting against muqtada al-sadr , while he and the blocs -- his

other groups are supported by the american side. so we are being sandwiched between the two and it doesn't seem there is any solution anytime soon. amy: yanar mohammed, thank you for being with us, president of the organization of women's freedom in iraq. speaking to us from baghdad. coming up, as president biden calls for an assault weapons ban and more funding for police, we will talk to professor robin d.g. kelley. the publication of the 20 the anniversary of his book "freedom dreams: the black radical imagination." it has just come out. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "sunny meadowz" by del the funky homosapien. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. in his speech tuesday from pennsylvania promoting his safer america plan, president biden called for an assault weapons ban and for the hiring of 100,000 more law enforcement officers nationwide. pres. biden: and it comes to

public safety and it is nation, the answer is not defund police, it is fund the police. fund the police. on this last day a black august, we spin the rest of the hour with professor robin d.g. kelley who is just published the 20 denver's revised and expanded edition of his book "freedom dreams: the black radical imagination." there's a new ford. in it, kelley writes about organizations, activists, and artists that are currently doing the work of imagining and fighting for different futures from a noun to verb. as we do the story now i've the flooding of an american city and the lack of water access in a majority black city of jackson to the aftermath of the u.s. invasion of iraq to the calling for more funding for police and an assault weapons fan, your thoughts?

>> let's begin with where you started, this plan on the part of biden. we knew this was coming. this was a campaign promise adding 100,000 more cops that echoes the crime bill -- clinton era crime bill, community policing which involves targeting black and brown, using productive technologies. think about what had happened had $37 billion went into things that people need to make them safer like housing, health care, environment protection, jobs. let me say -- this was not a glimmer of hope. i am not making a case -- i am making a case that despite the biden people's opposition to defund this element of it as a

response, that is $15 billion of grants to nonpolice, first responders, which health crisis. let's see how it could have turned out, i'm not sure, but clearly, movements make a difference. this is part of the argument of freedom, that movements to make a difference. thinking beyond the immediate needs. juan: can you talk about what are -- what is new i need the addition that you put out now in terms of revisions? clearly a lot's happened in 20 years. your book first came out in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in the beginning of the iraq war. since then, we've had the black spring of 2020 remains of people all around the world rising up after the killing of george floyd. but we've also had the rise of what i like to call the diversity come equity, and inclusion industry, gei industry

that has sought to co-opt the radical nature of this movement that arose in 2020. talk about those things and ao what you feel is the most important new aspect of the new edition of your book. >> let me start by talking about where we really are. i should say inspiraon to put out this new addition was -- edition was 2020. the book was not out-of-print. it continued to be in the either and is really important among organizers but let's go back. on one hand, back in 2000-2001, felt like the bush-cheney election derailed a lot of our movement. despite the fact that we witness

the largest antiwar protests in history, you know. i was in new york city during 9/11. i remember the islamophobia, the critical separation of cops and first responders. keep in mind, this is right after in the wake of the cincinnati rebellion, able to thousand one come after the killing of timothy thomas. this was in the wake of the dia blo protest. both cases, unarmed lack men -- black men. cincinnati look like ferguson. it was like a precursor many ways. protesting bush era militarism. that militarism continued as collate despite the claims there is an end of the war. your last guest talked about the continuation of these wars.

militarism continues to this day. sometimes it takes on the form of israeli occupation of palestine. it takes on the form of expansion of troops and africa. -- in africa. a lot of what we were fighting against then still exists. i think that is important. thinking about critical race theory. it is an interesting problem because the latest wave of mccarthyism, not really attacks on critical race theory but on multiculturalism. it is interesting the backlash is for movement and not

necessary backlash to president obama, driven by white nationalism which was there in 2000, persists throughout the 20 century, and uses this racist coded line which of -- languagef wokeness. it works because it convinces a largsegment of the country that the real threat to their lives are nonwhite people, we're people in our history. this is a real existential threat. not climate catastrophe, not crimes of the state, not global recession, not food and housing and security, not the threat of war with china, t economic policies that make the rich richer -- like the chips bill.

in many ways, it is a basic lesson that continues to convey in this movement that has erupted since then have actually expanded, is that we don't have the luxury to justify. we have to fight for revolutionary change. that is the only way to survive as a plentiful someone went to do that is to think beyond the immediate needs and concerns and crises that are right in front of us. amy: yet the detroit activist and philosopher, the late great graclee boggs really at the center of your book "freedom dreams," so deeply involved in the black power, feminist

movements. before her death, she was a frequent guest on democracy now! i want to turn to her in 2010. >> people are beginning to say the only way to survive is by taking care of one another, by re-creating our relationships with one another. that we have created a society over the last period in particular where -- we have devolved as human beings. amy: talk about why grace lee boggs is so important to you and so central in "freedom dreams" professor kelley? >> she is the center of the book. she is the inspiration, in many ways, for "freedom dreams." we go back to 1992 and she started this debate about you

need to read dr. king, you need to pay attention to people's needs beyond protest. like, how do you deal with the society we are trying to establish in time, they do present as opposed to just trying to fight for reform? we had this ongoing debate and she forced me to think. even after it came out, she had more critiques. i end the book with an epilogue that has a very substantial section on what was being built in detroit right now and the work that grace and jimmy boggs did. that is part of the story, saying freedom dreamers are basically building that society of creating new human beings, new ways of being together that

don't fall into the same old trap. amy: we have to end but we will do a post show and post democracynow.org it at democracynow.org. professor robin d.g. kelley, his 20 the anniversary edition of "freedom dreams: the black radical imóñóñóñóñóñóñ fñcñcñcñc

(sophie fouron) we're in the middle of the channel. but is it the uk, or is it france? actually, france is just a stone's throw away. you see it on clear days. you think you might be in france when you just look at the signs on the british channel islands. they're british, but they're not english. it's an important difference. they're known all over the world for being a tax haven. and it's one of those islands, very rare, that in the summertime, you see more people in suits than in shorts.